Immigration commentators pushing hate?

As the temperature of the immigration debate keeps rising, a growing chorus of people want to cool the harsh rhetoric inflaming this contentious issue.

As part of this call for a more sedate debate, some groups are calling on major cable TV networks to carefully vet immigration commentators appearing on their programs. Their reason? Some of these experts and spokespeople have ties to vigilante and hate groups, they say. They are using the cover of organizations such as the Minuteman Project and NumbersUSA to propagate hate and xenophobia.

The National Council of La Raza recently launched a Web site to out hate groups and vigilantes stoking the immigration debate. The Web site also calls out news media — CNN anchor Lou Dobbs is the prime target — that help fuel the hate.

The site says Dobbs “has turned what was once a show devoted to covering business in America into a nightly harangue against immigrants and immigration.” It goes on to say:

[Dobbs] refers frequently to illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States as the “invasion” and as an “army of invaders” (Lou Dobbs Tonight transcript, 3/31/06). One of his reporters referred to a visit from Mexico’s then-President Vicente Fox as a “Mexican military incursion.”

La Raza’s campaign also focuses on what it describes as “suspect spokespeople.” People like Dan Stein, president of Federation for American Immigration Reform. Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mark Potok said Stein shouldn’t be taken as a serious commentator. Stein, Potok says on the Web site, has defended taking money from white supremacy organizations.

FAIR, however, says its goal is to “improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest — more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.” It boasts 250,000 members and supporters who range from liberal to conservative.

But La Raza isn’t the only one on the halt-the-hate bandwagon. The American Jewish Committee made the same plea in a recent letter to network news leaders.

AJC pointed out specifically that Lou Dobbs Tonight, The O’Reilly Factor, and MSNBC News Live offer national platforms to spokespeople who represent known vigilante or hate-promoting groups. …

They regularly appear on news programs as anti-immigration “expert commentators” and pundits. “Rarely is their status as a representative of a vigilante group or one that promotes hate acknowledged or challenged. Rarely do they face anyone with an opposing viewpoint,” said Sinensky.

In addition, the AJC letter noted that spokespeople espousing vigilantism and fear regularly appear on nightly news programs. They often speak in code, calling immigrants “criminals,” “an army of invaders,” and “diseased”; and children born to immigrants are referred to as “anchor babies.” Many talk show hosts and commentators parrot this hate speech on their broadcasts.

8 Responses

Lou Dobbs is one of the most polite, respectful newsmen in the business and even as Janet Murguia of the RACIST “Council for La Raza” (“THE Race”) was spewing her hatred and hate speech at him – he was a perfect gentlemen! He is NOT a racist – he’s married to a Mexican! Lou Dobbs speaks for MILLIONS of legal, patriotic American citizens who want their laws enforced and the ILLEGAL INVASION stopped! Calling us Racists, Bigots, Xenophobes, Nazi’s or whatever other stupid word you ignorant people can think of will NOT stop us from fighting for our Country and our Freedom!

NO AMNESTY! NO OPEN BORDERS! NO NORTH AMERICAN UNION! NO NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY FROM MEXICO CITY TO CANADA! ENFORCE THE LAW! BUILD THE BORDER WALL & DEPORT THEM ALL!

A lady wrote the best letter in the Editorials in ages!!! It explains things better than all the baloney you hear on TV.

Her point:

Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

Certain people are angry that

the US might protect its own

borders, might make it harder

to sneak into this country and,

once here, to stay indefinitely.

Let me see if I correctly understand

the thinking behind these protests.

Let’s say I break into your house.

Let’s say that when you discover

me in your house, you insist that I leave.

But I say, ‘No! I like it here.

It’s better than my house. I’ve made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I’ve done all the things you don’t like to do. I’m hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

According to the protesters:

You are Required to let me stay in your house You are Required to feed me You are Required to add me to your family’s insurance plan You are Required to Educate my kids You are Required to Provide other benefits to me & to my family (my husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.

It’s only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I’m just trying to better myself. I’m a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house And what a deal it is for me!!!

I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold,

Sounds to me like it’s calling an ace and ace and a spade a spade. Anger? Yep, damn straight I’m mad as hell! For example Houston is not the same clean city it was in the 70’s when I bought my home in the Greenspoint area. IF I drive through there now I make sure all my doors are locked. It looks like Old Mexico, with your signs all over the place, shoddy signs on store fronts, graffiti on fences from your gangs…trash on streets that you are too lazy to pick up…apartment complexes that were beautiful, dirty, blinds torn, drapries tied in knots…muddy yards, trash, that again you are too lazy to pick up…now spread that across TExas, and the United States! You’ve stolen from our system, murdered our citizens, raped our citizens and run back to Mexico or whereever. You crowd our schools, hospitals, make the average wait for emergency care longer for free medical care. Yep…got reason to be angry. I refuse to do business with any business that I suspect is employing illegal aliens, or employ them. I walked out of a Mexican restruarnt a few weeks ago because an employee could not speak English.

Even jobs advertised in the Houston Chronicle mostly say must be bilingual…or must speak spanish. Get the hell out of my country!

Plus…why in hell should I have to press 1 for English! If you are here, you are suppose to be a citizen which means you speak English and obey the laws of the land!

I seen this “interview” it was the LA “RAZA” idiot that spewed all the hate I for 1 am sick of these ILLEGAL ALIENS expecting things be so sweet for theyre criminal behaviors.If you are ILLEGAL that means you are NOT LEGAL DUH!

I find it very odd the president of LaRaza has been on Lou Dobbs countless times, treated respectuflly and allowed to push their open border agenda. In fact, the woman was always very friendly and positive towards Lou Dobbs. The pandering to them by the presidential candidates, Obama and Clinton, seems to have caused them to distort even their visits on Lou Dobbs tonight.

If anyone promotes hate, it is LaRaza for trying to turn this country into a bilingual nation with an open border and forcing it down the throats of everyone else. Their list of demands and sense of entitlement leaves little to the imagination of exactly what they’re trying to pull. Unfortunately, many Americans listen to their garbage. They’re pro Latina, anti everybody else. Only when LaRaza started making the news more, did they change the meaning of LaRaza. It had a bigoted, hateful meaning at the beginning and their agenda doesn’t seem to have changed even with the disguise they name put on the name LaRaza.

It’s hard to believe a presidential candidate can align themselves with this short sighted group but Obama and Hillary have.